When I sat down to watch Road House (2024), I hadn’t seen the 1989 original that Patrick Swayze starred in. I figured, why not and pressed play. 

I thought Jake Gyllenhaal did a good job with the characters’ comedic side with not being too unserious. But this isn’t anything we didn’t know. His resume includes a past fighting movie Southpaw, which came out in 2015. He did an amazing job with the character Billy Hope, a boxer. 

In the new Road House, Conor McGregor makes acting debut. He did really well for being the evil henchman and comic relief character. With some of the best parts of the movie being his screen time, I’m sure this is just the beginning of Conor’s acting career. McGregor also has the record for highest paid first-time actor, earning $5.5 million for his role. 

One aspect that made this movie different from anything else that’s been released lately was the camera work. I noticed that instead of not being able to keep up with what’s happening in fight scenes, it put you in the point of view that you were either throwing the punches or getting hit. If it wasn’t that then you were right there with them. Road House definitely had the best fight choreography of the year or even decade.   

Road House had a different release plan than most movies. It did not get released to theaters, instead going straight to Amazon Prime. The strategy Amazon took paid off though with Road House setting all-time viewing records, hitting 50+ million viewers in just two weekends. 

I feel like people need to get rid of the nostalgia that is fogging their brain because it’s a remake. Movies, including reboots, should be judged on their own. Overall, the movie was really good. It was a fun watch.